Tag: Russia

Russia’s top nuclear official said Moscow is facing “colossal threats” and needs to update its nuclear capabilities.

Without directly naming where Russia’s chief nuclear threat is coming from, Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev said, “the current geopolitical situation, is a time of colossal threats to the existence of our country”.

“Therefore, the nuclear shield, which is also a sword, is a guarantee of our sovereignty,” he added, according to Russian state news agency RIA. “We understand today that the nuclear shield must only be improved in the coming years.”

The comments came less than a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump convened for a face-to-face meeting that marked the first time a U.S. leader has met with the Kremlin chief since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

While Trump and Putin appeared positive following the talks, little seemed to have been concretely accomplished in the meeting and hope surrounding a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire appeared to decline as the week progressed.

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It is unclear why Likhachev issued comments regarding Russia’s nuclear programme at this time, and he did not detail what sort of updates he would be looking to make to Moscow’s “shield” programme.

Trump issued similar comments earlier this year when in May he announced his plans to develop the “Golden Dome” missile defence system — inspired by Israel’s “Iron Dome” defence system — and which is expected to cost at least $175 billion.

Though security experts have been sounding the alarm when it comes to China’s escalating nuclear development, together Russia and the U.S. continue to possess 90% of the world’s nuclear arsenal.

Moscow continues to hold nearly 4,400 nuclear warheads, over 1,500 of which are “strategically deployed” while the U.S. possesses more than 3,700 warheads in its stockpiles with 1,400 deployed, according to the Arms Control Association.

While nuclear disarmament was the standing international goal following the end of the Cold War, the trajectory of this policy remains dubious as relations between Washington and Moscow have once again turned precarious amid Putin’s war in Ukraine, and his burgeoning relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The New Start Treaty remains the only bilateral nuclear arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia, and though it was extended in 2021, it is set to expire in February 2026. The future of the treaty – first signed in 2010 – also remains unclear as Moscow paused its participation in the agreement in 2023.

Putin said that this suspension meant he would continue to abide by stockpile limits under the treaty, but he would not allow for continued U.S. inspections.

Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for comment as nations increasingly look to expand their nuclear capabilities just six months ahead of when the New Start Treaty is set to expire.

Russia appears to be preparing to test its new nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered cruise missile, according to two U.S. researchers and a Western security source.

This is coming as Russian President Vladimir Putin readies for talks on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump tomorrow.

Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organisation, based in Virginia, reached their assessments separately by studying imagery taken in recent weeks until Tuesday by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm.

They agreed the photos showed extensive activity at the Pankovo test site on the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, including increases in personnel and equipment and ships and aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel).

“We can see all of the activity at the test site, which is both huge amounts of supplies coming in to support operations and movement at the place where they actually launch the missile,” Lewis said.

A Western security source, who asked not to be further identified, confirmed that Russia is preparing a Burevestnik test.

Lewis said a test could occur this week, raising the possibility it could overshadow the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

Asked for comment, the White House did not address the possibility of a Burevestnik test.

The Pentagon, the CIA, and Russia’s Defence Ministry declined to comment.

Putin has said the weapon – dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO – is “invincible” to current and future missile defenses, with an almost unlimited range and unpredictable flight path.

Lewis, Eveleth, and two arms control experts said the missile’s development has taken on more importance for Moscow since Trump announced in January the development of a U.S. Golden Dome missile defense shield.

But many experts say it is unclear the missile can evade defenses, will not give Moscow capabilities it does not already have, and will spew radiation along its flight path.

A test would have been scheduled long in advance of last week’s announcement of the Trump-Putin meeting, the researchers and experts said.

But Putin could have suspended preparations in view of U.S. spy satellites to signal his openness to ending his war in Ukraine as well as to restarting arms-control talks with the U.S., the experts said. New START, the last U.S.-Russia pact capping strategic nuclear deployments, expires on February 5.

“Sometimes you can push up or push down the schedule for a political reason,” said Tom Countryman, a former acting undersecretary of state for arms control.

The Burevestnik has a poor test record, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative advocacy group, with two partial successes among 13 known tests.

Eveleth and Lewis said the Planet Labs imagery showed stacks of shipping containers, equipment, and personnel arriving since late July.

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Lewis said two aircraft equipped to gather test data had been parked at the archipelago’s Rogachevo military airfield since mid-July. Images he provided to Reuters showed two large jets mounted with saucer-shaped radar domes.

He noted the presence of at least five ships associated with previous tests. A ship-tracking website – VesselFinder.com – showed a sixth ship linked to earlier tests was due to arrive on Tuesday, he said.

Reuters confirmed the website showed the vessel, a cargo ship named the Teriberka, bound for Novaya Zemlya, but could not independently confirm the researchers’ other findings.

Eveleth and Lewis said they began examining imagery of Pankovo starting from July, after Russia on August 6 published a notice to mariners to stay away from the area from August 9-12.

Reuters found a series of notices on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s Defense Internet NOTAM Service issued by Russia showing a possible launch window between August 9-22.

The Norwegian military told Reuters in an email that the Barents Sea is a “prime location for Russian missile tests” and that it had indications from notices and maritime warnings of “preparations for test activities.”

But it said it would “not confirm any knowledge of what kind of munitions they are to test.”

In late July, Eveleth said, he noticed a shelter protecting the Burevestnik launcher from the weather was being slid back and forth, which he called “very clear evidence” of plans for a test.

Lewis provided to Reuters images taken of the site on August 7 showing the protective launcher cover, stacks of shipping containers, a crane for moving them, and a helicopter.

“It’s full steam ahead,” he said of the pace of test preparations.

Nearly 500 drones and 20 missiles of various types were launched by Russia at Ukraine yesterday, marking the biggest barrage of the war, Kyiv said.

Ukraine’s air force said its air defences were able to destroy 277 of the 479 drones launched in the darkness and 19 missiles mid-flight. Kyiv claims only 10 drones of missiles hit their target and just one person was injured.

The bombardment targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine, they said.

Russia’s aerial attacks usually start late in the evening and end in the morning, as drones are harder to spot in the dark.

Russia has targeted civilian areas of Ukraine with Shahed drones during the war. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. Russia says it targets only military targets.

Despite the attack, the Kremlin said yesterday that Russia was still ready to honour agreements with Ukraine on new prisoners of war exchange and on the repatriation of dead soldiers, despite what it said was Kyiv’s failure to so far honour its side of the bargain.

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“We have seen and heard a hundred different excuses, justifications and so on, but it is difficult to view them as credible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters. “The Russian side remains ready to implement the agreements reached in Istanbul.”

The exchanges were agreed to during a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2 and are meant to see a new prisoner of war swap of at least 1,200 people – focusing on the youngest and most severely wounded – as well as the repatriation of thousands of bodies of those killed in the war.

The return of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of the dead is one of the few things the two sides have been able to agree on, even as their broader negotiations have failed to get close to ending the war, now in its fourth year.

Ukraine rejected calls from Moscow and Washington to commit to engaging in peace talks with Russia this week, demanding to see Russian peace proposals before attending further negotiations.

In nationally televised remarks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Kyiv is dedicated, in principle, to continued peace negotiations with Russia. However, he stopped short of agreeing to the proposed today’s peace talks in Istanbul.

“We are ready for dialogue, but we demand clarity — clear and, most importantly, balanced proposals,” Yermak said.

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Russia announced this week that it was ready to continue the peace negotiations that began on May 16, offering up June 2 as a prospective date. The Kremlin announced Friday that Russia’s delegation would travel to Istanbul over the weekend for more talks.

Still, Russia’s refusal to release a list of its terms for peace has disturbed Ukrainian officials, who say such a document is necessary.

“In order for the next planned meeting to be substantive and meaningful, it is important to receive a document in advance so that the delegation that will attend has the authority to discuss the relevant positions,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.